11

Feb 2013

If You Want Something Done Right

Over the years, I've learned to do a few maintenance tasks on my bike. It started off with simple things like changing tubes and tires and as I started traveling more with my bike, it progressed to being able to partially assemble and disassemble my bike. And not necessarily in that order. :)

In the past, I would have prefered not to work on my bike since it was time that could have been used for something else -- like training. But mixed experiences forced me to learn more about my bikes and it eventually lead me to the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, Oregon.

There are a number of other factors which brought me down this road, the most obvious being my acquisition of the Exit Fit Bike as well as the FIST certification and the timing seemed about right.

Ashland is about 15 miles over the California border so I loaded up the car and made the journey north.

In the words of LL Cool J, "I can't live without my radio..."

No journey would keep me sane without the satellite radio.

As I began my journey, one of my wife's favorite bands appeared on the display. It's sort of a joke that when one of her bands comes on, I say (in a silly voice)... "You like [fill in the band name]". I happen to be parked in the ATM parking lot, saw this popup, took a picture and sent it to her. Ok, private joke and probably not worth mentioning but whatever -- it's my blog.

I normally try to keep my hands on the wheel when driving but for some reason, I had some weird desire to take photos along the way.

But that would be illegal and admitting it would be a confession, I would imagine, so I didn't do that.

In case you were wondering how that setup looks, I have these nifty bungee cords with carabiners...

Vivid colors...

Using my trusty GPS to guide me, I found it kind of odd when I saw this on the map. And no, I'm not speeding. And no, I'm not taking photos while I'm driving. Again.

I've been all over the country but this area is really beautiful and I wish I had more time to explore...

When I arrived, I was starving and just a few doors down from where I was staying, there was a Mexican restaurant. I love me some chips and salsa! Nothing really to add...

While there were many locals on their bikes, I was not willing to brave the freezing conditions so I setup the portable man cave, pain cave, whatever you want to call it.

Need I say more...

The view from above. I placed a towel on the floor, a hotel towel, in order to catch the sweat. What I didn't notice is that the band from the rollers was rubbing on the towel and left a nice black line on it. :(

What's better than one bike? Two bikes...

Straight out of the box, I brought it along so I could get it setup the way I like it. I figured having parental guidance in the form of professional mechanics would be handy. It was.

My photos might be a little out of order but for the sake of not killing too much time, let's pretend this was the next thing I saw.

Nothing particularly special about this bike lane marking. My point of posting it is that Ashland is VERY bike friendly. I just thought that was cool.

Where I come from, this is a creek. In some places, they call it a river. It was about 20' wide. I think your definition depends on whether or not you have a real river in your state. Regardless of what you want to call it, I took photos and that's all that really matters...

As the sign says...

Childish but funny....

This is where we took our classes. Kidding. I have no idea what this is but it's behind our facility. Seemed like it was where they took the bad kids.

The view to the right of that barn thingie...

The local bike shop. Actually, one of the local bike shops. But I went to this one so it was my local bike shop. Except I'm not local. But I was local.